Game Changers

From beauty and fitness gurus to media and culinary sensations to financial and political dynamos, this diverse group of New York’s most influential movers and shakers all wield their formidable strengths and talents for the greater good of the city. We salute them.

Appearances can deceive, no matter how toned. While gossip columns gleefully tally his dalliances with starlets and he remains a constant on most-eligible-bachelor lists, David Zinczenko has been assiduously transforming the publishing world in his own innovative image—and he shows no sign of slowing down.

From 2000 until very recently, Zinczenko, 43, served as editor-in-chief and the face of Men’s Health (as well as executive vice president of the magazine’s parent company, Rodale Inc., and general manager of Rodale’s Healthy Living Group), turning it into the biggest global men’s magazine brand: its Stateside edition boasts a higher circulation than Details, Esquire, GQ and Men’s Journal combined. Zinczenko also made MH a power-lifter in the tech and social media worlds—it was among the first titles to launch on both the iPad and the iPhone and has more than a million Twitter followers—and produced a series of best-selling books for Rodale. In a move that stunned the publishing world, he announced mid-November that he would be leaving the company to commence a new entrepreneurial venture with ex-Rodale Books chief Stephen Perrine. “I’ve discovered that even venerable media brands have a lot of value that has yet to be unlocked,” Zinczenko says. “I’ve spent the last several years hacking the code.”

The Pennsylvania native’s success stems largely from being a living testament to the Men’s Health lifestyle philosophy, which goes well beyond simply working out and looking good. Earlier this year, he testified before Congress to change a military policy that compensates soldiers for losing an appendage such as a thumb or a leg in war, but not their genitals.

Zinczenko has also expanded his own personal brand of late. He’s branched out into the culinary realm, opening The Lion in 2010 with mediaite.com honcho Dan Abrams and Waverly Inn founding chef John DeLucie. They embarked on the project “with the idea it could be another Elaine’s,” says Zinczenko, adding, “I thought of Elaine as my New York mother.” –Matt Diehl

The Giant Force of NYC
Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotel and co-owner of the New York Giants, reenergizes tourism in the Big Apple.

When people think of ultimate New York patriots, Robert De Niro or Woody Allen often spring to mind. But Jonathan Tisch has long been one of the city’s most effective and tireless promoters.

As CEO of Loews Hotels and co-owner of the New York Giants, Tisch obviously has plenty of skin in the game when it comes to maintaining Gotham’s status as a mecca for tourism and business. But for a man who could easily retire with billions of dollars if he wanted to, the bottom line isn’t all about the bottom line. It’s about a real love for New York—and not just Manhattan.

“What’s great about New York City is its 8 million residents,” says Tisch, 58. “They’re why this city is a destination for people from around the world. What’s exciting to me is that visitors are increasingly wanting to explore the other boroughs, too—not just Manhattan—and they’re seeing why those of us who live here believe it’s the greatest city in the world.”

For six years, Tisch was chair of NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing agency, and after September 11 he also became chair of New York Rising, a task force set up to revive tourism in the city. “On both an emotional and a financial level, we needed people to come to our town,” Tisch says. “The term ‘patriotic tourism’ was coined, and it made us realize we were not on our own.”

Despite being a captain of capitalism, the basic lesson Tisch communicates in the three best-selling books he has written or co-written is one of cooperation, not cutthroat competition. “To be successful, we need to depend on others,” Tisch says. “And while on that journey to success, we have a responsibility to help others get to the same place. Partnership is crucial, whether it’s business or personal.” –Dimitri Ehrlich

The Age-Defying Auteur
Paul Jarrod Frank, M.D., is the go-to guy for Upper East Siders seeking the fountain of youth.

Though news flashes predicting the “storm of the century’’ had most city residents holed up in their homes on the last Monday in October, the Fifth Avenue office of cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Paul Frank was abuzz with intrepid Upper East Siders stopping by for antiaging touch-ups.

“A lot of my patients live in the neighborhood, so they popped in to get refreshers; even my dad came by for laser,” says Frank, who at 43 still has his boyish good looks. “Fraxel was pretty popular this morning because people knew they were going to have a couple days of downtime.”

The day after the storm, Frank and his wife headed to Duane Reade to clean out the shelves of necessities and distribute them to drop-off centers.

Although his practice is only 11 years old, his circle of devotees began forming years ago. “Much of my clientele is built from my social network, “ he explains. “I started at Horace Mann when I was 3 years old, and I’ve known a lot of these people for 34 years.”

Frank has reached a level of notoriety most physicians don’t achieve until they’re at least in their 50s. Apart from maintaining a packed practice, he’s a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center and a consultant for Estée Lauder.

His current age-defying artillery is a trifecta of injectables, lasers and liposuction. Men—specifically “type A personalities, in excellent shape and good-looking,” as Frank describes them—now make up a significant part of his practice. They’ll no doubt be excited about a pending procedure targeted to combat hair loss that involves, in the doctor’s words, “injecting bio-engineered growth factor into hair follicles.”

Frank’s empathy for his patients comes from a personal place. “I’m as concerned with aging as my patients are; my ultimate goal is to grow old gracefully with them.” –Beth Landman

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